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One day you’ll learn to love the Hummer

Instead of guzzling gas, a future Hummer could help the environment rather than hurt it. Last week, General Motors won a design contest at the Los Angeles auto show for presenting this “algae-infused, oxygen-exuding buggy that would open up like a flower.” Challenged to create a vehicle that would have a lifespan of five years and could be fully recycled, the GM design lab came up with the “Hummer O2.” The car, powered by a hydrogen tank and fuel cells, would have an algae-filled body shell that coverts CO2 into oxygen. So where does the “flower” part come in? The shell would open up like leaves when parked to absorb the sunlight. The design team said they chose the Hummer for the contest to get it back to its roots. “These types of vehicles—the SUVs and early Jeeps—were for people who worked outdoors, environmentalists, naturalists and outdoorsmen. This is just us coming full circle.” Well, at least GM seems to be trying. This week the company also aid it would bring back a plug-in electric SUV, the Saturn Vue. But for now, the breathing Hummer lives only as a sketch.